Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini kept it a secret for seven years until last November but his pioneering company 'GF Biochemicals' could revolutionise the green energy industry.

When environmentally-concerned Flamini left the Gunners for AC Milan in 2008, after his first spell in north London, he and his economics graduate, business partner Pasquale Granata founded the company, before spending millions in research, trials, infrastructure and employee fees.

And on Wednesday, the 32-year-old announced on his Instagram account that GF (standing for Granata-Flamini) had obtained technology-enabled green chemistry company, Segetis.

Next to a graphic of the two businesses' logos, Flamini tweeted: 'We founded GFBiochemicals to find green alternatives to oil. The acquisition of the American company Segetis takes us closer. www.Segetis.bio #arsenal #environment #sustainable #GFBiochemicals.'

On its official website, Segetis says that it produces 'versatile chemical building blocks' as 'this new platform harnesses the power and reliability of renewable agricultural and forestry resources.'

In November, Flamini announced that GF had become the first company on the planet to mass produce Levulinic Acid (LA), which is said to be able to replace oil in all its forms.

Speaking to The Sun, Flamini said: 'We are pioneers. We are opening a new market and it's a market potentially worth £20billion.'

LA could be used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, plastic and food industries, amongst others, and the Frenchman stands to make a lot of money, in spite of the millions he has spent on getting his factory in Caserta, Italy up to scratch.

Share this article

Share

1.6k shares

Flamini employs roughly 80 people in the plant and around 400 workers make a living thanks to his and Granata's endeavours, something the Gunner is particularly proud of given Italy's current job crisis - Italian youth unemployment rose to its highest level ever in summer 2015.

Talking about how his risky experiment came to be, Flamini added: 'At the start we wanted the name of the company to be Green Futures. When I moved to Milan in 2008 I met Pasquale, who became a close friend and we always had in mind to do something together.

'I was always close to nature and concerned about environmental issues, climate change and global warming; he was on the same wavelength. We were looking how we could make a contribution to the problem.

'After a while we found out about Levulinic Acid: it's a molecule identified by the US Department of Energy as one of the 12 molecules with the potential to replace petrol in all its forms. Researchers told us LA is the future and by doing research in that field we could come up with a great discovery and success.'

In addition to his plant and laboratory in Caserta, he also has an office in Milan and another in Geleen, Holland, with an office also in the pipeline for the United States.

That's not to mention researchers, chemists and other scientists from five European countries, as well as Egypt.

And remarkably the combative midfielder - who has had a 13-year senior football career - had not mentioned his ventures to anyone for seven years, including his family, with his parents totally unaware until a year and a half ago.

Flamini will now turn his attentions to helping Arsene Wenger's side get back into the Premier League title race, starting with a win over Watford at the Emirates Stadium on April 2.